Client Focus: This salary will put candidates off your skilled role.

It is not unusual to find ‘competitive salary’ listed in agricultural job descriptions; but to what extent is this approach diminishing your chances of finding the right person for the role?

Defining the term is one of the first challenges facing agricultural candidates. Many would assume it means the prospective salary will be equal to, or higher than, the industry standard for similar opportunities around the same location.

The term may also suggest that your company is more open to salary negotiations, or that you wish to gauge an applicant’s interest in the role before discussing money.

This tactic may be proving a serious drawback for farms looking to maximise their ability to attract fresh talent. According to a national report recently published by Milkround, one of the UK’s leading graduate job websites; 43% of graduates stated that they would be far less likely to apply for a position if the salary was listed as ‘competitive’, rather than given as a specific figure or range.

Transparency on key details

The grey area around salary appears to be one element of a wider issue. The study also found that job descriptions were lacking detail in other key areas, such as career progression, detail on benefits and background on the company.

As the study suggests; talented candidates are more likely to feel put off if they suspect that the company is not being completely transparent with them. Most people do not understand what the term ‘competitive salary’ means and would be unsure of what to expect.

A good, transparent job description should always outline salary, even if it means attracting applications from candidates with different skill levels.

The first thing that candidates look for are the day to day tasks and the salary. A detailed job description is a crucial opportunity for you to clarify any misconceptions around the role and will allow candidates to better understand if they would be the right fit for your farm. We know from experience that this leads to higher quality applications as a result.

Do you want to find out more about how to write an attractive description for your opportunity?